JIT report could not point out a single corruption case against PM : Maryam Orangzeb

Lahore : Minister of State for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Maryam Orangzeb addressing a joint press conference with MNA Daniyal Aziz here Wednesday said that the JIT report was a pack of lies based on prejudice and dishonesty, and it had vindicated the reservations and lack of trust expressed by the Sharif family right from the beginning.

The 256-page report, however, could not point out a single corruption  case and had corroborated the fact that Nawaz Sharif had neither indulged in any corruption nor had taken any kickbacks during his stints as prime minister and chief minister of Punjab, she added.

She expressed the hope that the Supreme Court would itself reject the fabricated lies of the joint investigation report (JIT) when itwould be challenged by the legal team of the Sharif family, which was examining it threadbare.

Maryam said that if the words like apprehensions, possibility and misgivings were removed, the report would be reduced to mere a collection of fables. She said that the investigative reports were not based on conjectures and assumptions, but on concrete and irrefutable evidence which was nowhere visible in the JIT report.

 The MOS said that the JIT report was only a report on the businesses

of the Sharif family and the team had failed to answer or focus on the question asked by the SC.

It had failed to come up with concrete evidence to establish that  Maryam Nawaz was the beneficial owner of the off-shore companies and notwithstanding the existence of trustee deed between Hussain Nawaz and Maryam, which was notarized and testified, concluded that she probably was the beneficial owner, she added.

She pointed that the JIT mostly relied on generated documents, which were not admissible in any court of law as only those documents were admissible that were signed, certified and signed by the authorities concerned.

She said questions were already being asked as to who had written the report.

Marriyum pointed out that the tone and tenor of the allegations leveled against the Sharif family by the JIT were highly objectionable and clearly indicated the bias that they (JIT) harboured against them.

She said that no law or constitution conferred this right on the investigative bodies to indulge in such indiscretions.

The minister claimed that the Panama Papers case was a conspiracy against the Prime Minister and it was not something new as even in the past a number of conspiracies were hatched against him with different hue and nomenclature. She said that this time not only this conspiracy would be thwarted, but the characters behind it would also be exposed.

Marriyum pointed out that the opposition was using this case as crutches for their political motives.

The minister said that the opposition was trying to mislead the masses by presenting selective narrative like it had done when the SC verdict was announced and they were snubbed by the court itself asking them to refrain from giving wrong interpretation to the court decision. She said that the present campaign against the government was a preparatory move for the third dharna (sit-in).

Ruling out the possibility of Prime Minister tendering his resignation, she said that those demanding resignation from the thrice elected Prime Minister should read the report thoroughly as the Prime Minister could not be asked to resign on the basis of misgivings and apprehension.

She said that Nawaz Sharif represented an ideology and he derived his strength from the trust of the people, who would not be misled by the machinations of the opponents and would vote for him even in the 2018 elections.

The minister said that the people of Pakistan would not be left on the mercy of the conspirators within and outside the country and their designs would be thwarted.

She said that the Prime Minister stood for service to the people and his whole politics revolved around performance, progress and prosperity of Pakistan, whereas Imran Khan was a person, who called the parliament a house of dacoits and his supporters attacked the parliament building and hung their washed clothes on its walls.

He had been demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister for the last four years while sitting on the container, agitating on the roads and hurling threats to lock-down the capital, she added.

The minister said that they were trying to inform the people about who had voted for Prime Minister about the biased and malafide contents of the JIT report.

Responding to a question, Maryam said that the opposition parties, which were siding with the PTI in demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister, had played a very positive role in strengthening democracy in the country and expressed the hope that the moment the lies of the JIT report would be exposed in the SC they would surely dissociate themselves from the PTI.

To a question about leakage of photo from JIT premises, Maryam said that the Supreme Court had already ordered that strict action should be taken against the person, who took the picture and then leaked it.

Daniyal Aziz, pointing out the discrepancies and contradictions in the JIT report, also declared that it was a pack of lies.

Referring to the noise being raised by the opposition, he said why were they clamouring about a report, which was incomplete and inconclusive and advised the opponents to wait till Monday when a postmortem of the report would be conducted before the SC.

Daniyal said that the government had had fulfilled its obligation for mutual legal assistance, but the companies abroad whom the JIT had approached, gave nominal weight to the JIT requests.

He also questioned the sealing of the 10th volume of the report. He said the JIT tried to make a source report instead of submitting findings based on concrete evidence. He said Aitzaz Ahsan, Khursheed Shah and Jamat-e-Islami leader should have read the report properly and then given their comments on it.

The MNA claimed that the documents claimed to have been received from Dubai by the JIT were not duly attested by the authorities concerned, therefore, they were not authentic.

He said that the Prime Minister and the PML-N had categorically denied allegations about Prime Minister owning any off-shore company.

He said why did not those, who were gunning for the accountability of the Prime Minister, ask Imran about it that who had shut down the Ehtsab Commission in the KP.

Daniyal also accused Imran of having received money from Indian companies. He asked as to why Imran was not submitting details of party funds in the Election Commission inspite of repeated orders by the ECP.